Ski



Feb. 6, 1945. A. D. ANDREEF SKI 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Jan. 8, 1942 wm um N @En E, 2,.. V

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Patented Feb. 6, 1945 SKI oFFlCa Alexis D. Andi'eefz Montreal, Quebec, Canada Application January-8, 1942, Serial No. 426,065

4 Claims. (Cl. 280--11.13)

. This invention relates to improvements in laminated skiis. v

The main object of this invention is the provision of an improved method of manufacture whereby laminated skiis of increased strength and swing retaining characteristics may be produced at `a substantially reduced cost compared with present methods of manufacture. f

Another object is the provision of a method of manufacture which ena-bles the sides of `a laminated ski to be shaped without resorting to the usual and undesirable practice of cuttingaway portions of the exposed side edgesV of the ski.

lAnother object is the provision of a method of manufacture whereby the swing desired in the finished ski is obtained in a simple and desirable manner without resorting kto the steaming and heat bending operations usually employed for this purpose.

A further object is the provisionof a generally improved laminated ski which is characterized by substantially increased strength, resiliency, wear resistance andA swing retaining characteristics as compared with the various types of laminated skiis now on the market.

A further object is the provision ofa laminated ski composed of severallayers, which are fabricated and assembled in a novel mannerwhich reduces, to a considerable extent, the amount of wood wasted in the production of the ski.

Other objects, advantages and characteristic features of the invention will Ibe more readily un-v derstood from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a sid elevational view of am'shed three-ply ski made in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the nished ski.

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the finished ski.

Fig. 4 is an isometric view of the uniinished component layers and the uninished toe and heel shaping and reinforcing wedges of the ski 'as these parts appear in unfinished condition and in 'an unassembled relation. I

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of a built-up block or blank from which the top layer of the ski is cut. l f '5 Vig'. 'G is a side View of vthe block or' blank appearing in 5, the dotted lines inFig. 6 indi# eating the manner-in which the :block or blank is cut longitudinally to provide top layers having 'a' longitudinal curvature corresponding to the longitudinal curvature or swing desired in the finished ski.

Fig. l is a side view of a second block or blank which is cut as indicated by dotted lines to provide intermediate ski layers having substantially the same longitudinal curvature as the top layers. The block or blank shown in Fig. 7 is built up in the same manner as that shown in Figs.5 and 6. Fig. S is a plan view illustrating a Amodified method of forming the top and intermediate layers of the skiis appearing in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive. Fig. 9 is a view showing the manner in which the front sideyshaping wedges of the top and intermediate layers appearing'in Figs. 2, 4 and 8 may be cut from a short'lengthof scrap board. Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig; 9 but showing the manner in which the rear sideA shaping wedges ofthe upper and lower ski layers may be cut from scrap board. v i Referring to Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, 'designates a ski including a top layer 6, an intermediate layer 1, and a bottom layer 8 Ywhich are glued together in face to face relation except at4 the toe and heel ends of the ski.` At the toe end ci the ski a toe shaping and reinforcing wedge 9 is interposed between and glued to the toe ends of the layers 6 and ll and a'similar wedge l0 is interposed between and'glued to the toe ends of the layers l and 8." At the heel end of theski a similar heel shaping and reinforcing wedge Il is interposed between and glued to theheel ends of the layers 6 and 'l and a similar wedge l2 is interposed between and glued to the heel ends of the layers 1 and 8.

As indicated in 4 the toe shaping wedges 9 and lll substantially increasesthe resistance'of the toe portion of the ski to warpage, breakage and splitting. The same effect is obtained at the.

strips arranged with their pointed ends directed toward but terminating in spaced relation to each other.v These strips I5 and I5a extend in`v wardly from the toe and heel ends of the layer and have their side edges -curved or shaped to v correspond to the side curvature or sideshape desired in the finished ski. The strips I5 and I5a are arranged between and glued to full length' strips I6 which are also directly glued together along the portions thereof which lie between the pointed ends of the strips I5 and I5a. The remainder ofthe layer is composed of strips I 1 and I8 which are glued to each other and to the strips I'. As viewed in plan the strips IB, I1 and I8 are of uniform width from the toe to the heel ends thereof. However,y it will be noted that, due to the side shaping effect of the wedge shaped strips I5 and I5a, thev-v layer as a ,Whole gradually diminishes in width from the toe and` heel ends toward the transverse centre of the' layer, the maximum width being at the toe end since the butt end of the wedge shaped strip I5y is wider than the butt end of the Wedge shaped strip I5a. As shownin Figs.. 9 and 10, the component strips I5 and I5a of each of the layers 6 and 1 may be cut from short lengths of board which are producedV as Waste in cutting long boards to provide the full length strips I6, I1 and I8.

After the wedge lshaped strips I5 and I5a havebeen cut from a single board as shown in Figs. 9v

and l0, the sides of. these strips may, if necessary,

be trimmed and shaped with very little Waste to` give the strips the side curvature or shape corre-` sponding to the side curvature or shape desired in the finished ski.

The layers 6 and 1 of formed as shown in Fig. 8. In this case each layer includes twoshaping wedges I5 extending from the toe end of the layer with their pointed ends directedtoward the pointed ends of two shaping Wedges I5a extending inwardly from the heel end of the layer. In this case the central portion of the layer is formed by three strips 22, 23 and 24 which are glued together, the outermost sides of of the wedges I5 'and I5a. The outer sides of the 25 whichform the side edges of the layer.

It is preferable that the wedges I5 shown in Figs. 2, 4 and 8 be longer. than the Wedges I5a but this is not absolutelyy essential since the wedges may be of the same length.

' The bottom layer 8 of the ski shown in Figs. l and 2 may, if desired, consist of a single piece of wood of a length and width corresponding to the length and width ofthe finished ski. I prefer, however, to employ `a bottom layer 8 having a wide central strip 25', two vintermediate strips 26, and two outer or edge forming strips 21. The central strip 25 is preferably formed with parallel side edges which `are gluedto straight side edges inexpensive wood. 'I'he intermediate strips 26 are provided since these strips are relatively narrow and may be cut to give the desired side curvature whereas it would not be feasible, with present methods of manufacture, to cut the side edges of a strip of the Width 'o f the central strip 24.

The layers 6 and 1 shown in Figs. 1 to 4 indotted lines X, each layer being thus given a bottom longitudinal curvature or swing corresponding to that desired in the nished ski. This method of cutting the layers 6. and 1Veliminates the necessity of steaming and heat bending oplayer 1, the resulting assembly being then sub-- I jected to a molding operation in which the component layers are united by adhesive previously applied thereto, the bottom layer 8 being bent to conform to thev curvature of the engaging surthe ski may ais be wedges I5 and |5ar are glued to full length strips provided at the inner sides of the intermediate a strips 26. The outer sides of the intermediate strips 26 are concavely curved to conform to the side shape or curvature of the overlying layers 6 and 1. The outer-or edge forming strips 21 are of uniform Width as viewed in plan and are pressed against and glued to the concavely curved outerside edges of the intermediate ystrips 26. The outer or edge forming strips 21 are preferably made of hickory or other hard woods, Baleen, metal or other material having a high wear resistance. The central strip 25 and the intermediate strips 26 may be made of relatively soft and face of the intermediate layerv 1 and the toe ends of all of said layers being curved upwardly in the conventional manner. In this case the molding operation required to bend the toe ends of the layers and to cause the bottom layer to conform to the longitudinal curvature or swing of the superposed layers B and 1 is a relatively simple and inexpensive operation as compared with the steaming and heat bending operations required when the laye-rs 6, 1 and 3 are' initially combined as flat layers and must all be bent simultaneously to give the desired swing or longitu'- dinal curvature. y y

When the layers 6 and 1 are made as shown in Fig. 8 they will also be cut from suitable built-up laminated blocks orblanks of the same general type as those shown in Figs. 5 to 1 inclusive.

Having thus described the principles of `my invention and what I now conceive to be the preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood that various modifications maybe resorted to within the scope and spirit of the invention as dened by the appended claims. For example, lwhile I vhave shown my invention embodied in a threelayer ski, it Will be understood that the same principles apply to the constructionof all multi-ply skiis composed of two or more layers.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is: *l i y 1. A multi-layer laminated ski characterized in that at leastone layer is vcomposed o'f'separately formed strips glued together in side by side -relation, certain intermediate strips being substantially wedge shape in plan view and Vbeing arranged inline with each other and with their pointed ends directed toward but terminating short of the transverse centre of the layer, said wedge shaped stripsbeing arranged between and glued to two full .length stripswhich are also glued directly to each other along the portions thereof lying between the pointed ends of the wedge shaped strips, the side shape or curvature of the layer being determined by the side shape or curvature of the wedge shapedstrips.

v2. A multi-layer ski asv set forth in claim l, in'which the strips of the layer containing the Wedge shaped vstrips are,v with the` exception of the wedge shaped strips, of uniform width as viewed in'plan.

3. A multi-layer ski comprising at least three superposed layers, toe shaping wedges interposed between the toe and heel ends off the` top and intermediate layers and similar toe shaping wedges interposed between the toe and heel ends of the intermediate layer and the bottom layer, said wedges comprising pieces of wood which are out on the bias and arranged between the-layers so that the obliquely inclined grains of the upper toe and heel shaping wedges extend across the full width of the ski at an opposite angle with respect to the obliquely inclined grains of the lower toe and heel shaping W'edges.

4. A multi-layer laminated ski comprising a. layer including two centrally arranged'wedgeshaped strips extending inwardly from the toe and heel ends of the layer in yalignment with each other, said wedge-shaped strips being arranged with their pointed ends directed toward each other but terminating short of the transverse mediate strips having straight inner side edges glued to the side edges of the -centralstrip, the outer side edges of the intermediate strips being concavely curved, and outer or edge forming strips secured to and extending the [full length oi the outer concavely curved side edges of theV intermediate strips, said outer or edge forming strips being of uniform length from end to end vas viewed in plan.

ALEXIS D. ANDREEF.

centre of the layer, two additional strips laying 

